Expanded metal converts solid sheets of metal into metal sheets of diamond-shaped openings joined by continuous uniform strands. This results in a strong, structurally sound metal product which permits the passage of heat, fluids, air, sound, etc. At Metalspand, Inc., we start with coils of metal, which we decoil, cut to length for the sizes we need, then send the metal to our expanders. Some of the terms we commonly use are:

SWD - the distance from an outside point on a bond to a corresponding point on the following bond, measured across the short way of diamond.

LWD - the distance from an outside point on a bond to a corresponding point on the following bond, measured across the long way of diamond.

Bond - the intersection of two strands.

SWO - Short Way of Opening - the distance measured from the inside of the bond across to the inside of the bond SWD.

LWO - Long Way of Opening - the distance measured from the inside of the bond across to the inside of the bond LWD.

Standard - also called regular, un-flattened, or raised expanded metal. Expanded metal as it comes from the press. The strands and bonds are set at a uniform angle to the plane of the sheet.

Flattened - standard expanded metal that has been passed through a cold roll mill. Bonds and strands are turned down to produce a smooth surface.

Shearing - cutting expanded metal to size to produce various sizes and shapes.

Machine Run to Size - expanded metal as it comes off the press with closed diamond edges.

Random Shearing - expanded metal cut to size leaving open diamond edges.

Bond Shearing - expanded metal cut to size leaving closed diamond edges.